Sea Containers was a Bermudan registered company which operated two primary business areas: transport and container leasing.
90-534: London & South Eastern Railway Limited , trading as Southeastern , was a British train operating company owned by Govia that operated passenger rail services in South East England . It was the key operator of commuter and regional services in South East London and Kent , and also served parts of East Sussex . Southeastern commenced operations on 1 April 2006 as the franchisee for
180-541: A Class 375 Electrostar was used on occasion. The livery for these was white with the Southeastern logo, which was also formerly used for "Mainline" services. As of August 2023, the weekday off-peak service pattern, with frequencies in trains per hour (tph), was: Dover Priory , Martin Mill , Walmer , Deal , Sandwich One early morning service (the 0616) starts back from Ore, the only Southeastern service to serve
270-712: A 100% FirstGroup subsidiary when the 24.5% shareholder bought out its partners. The TOCs were renamed First Great Western and First North Western . Go-Ahead Group bought the remaining 35% share in Thames Trains . Virgin Group sold a 49% share in Virgin Rail Group that operated the CrossCountry and West Coast franchises to Stagecoach . The completion of the rail link to Heathrow Airport led to Heathrow Express , an open-access operator outside
360-571: A company wholly owned by the Strategic Rail Authority , which would operate the franchise until it could be tendered again. New franchise holders Arriva Trains Wales and Merseyrail began operating. FirstGroup purchased GB Railways which owned the Anglia Railways and Hull Trains businesses. A policy where the majority of services (both long-distance and commuter) from each London terminal would all be operated by
450-529: A dispute over profit sharing. In March 2022, the government imposed a £23.5 million penalty in addition to the £64 million that it is seeking to recover from the former operator. On 17 October 2021, government-owned Southeastern (SE Trains Limited) took over the franchise as an operator of last resort . Southeastern introduced a full timetable of domestic high-speed services branded Southeastern Highspeed over High Speed 1 between London St Pancras and Ashford International on 13 December 2009;
540-459: A government-owned operator of last resort , due either to failing expectations or to events on the rail system as a whole. The term is also sometimes used to describe companies operating passenger or freight rail services over tracks owned by another company or a national network owner. Franchises were initially let by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF). This was in turn replaced by
630-706: A limited preview service had been running since 29 June 2009. High-speed trains use High Speed 1 calling at Stratford International and Ebbsfleet International . Trains from London to the Medway towns and Faversham leave the high-speed line at Ebbsfleet and continue via the North Kent line and Chatham Main Line . Trains for Dover Priory and Margate leave the high-speed line at Ashford International. A limited peak-hour service now also operates between St Pancras and Maidstone West via Ebbsfleet and Strood. When bidding for
720-684: A personal interest in. During 1968, Sea Containers became a public company ; it was floated on the New York Stock Exchange in 1974. After enjoying a stay at the Hotel Cipriani of Venice , Sherwood purchased the luxury hotel. Subsequent similar purchased led to the creation of the Orient-Express Hotels chain, which the Sea Containers held a stake in up until 2005. Another personal project
810-561: A restructuring to win favour, leading to Tiphook failing to acquire the company. During the privatisation of British Rail of the mid 1990s; Sea Containers was one of various private sector companies that sought to obtain one of the newly created franchises . Over time, it would place bids for multiple franchises, including the South Western franchise in 2001 and the South Eastern franchise in 2006. However, its first bid
900-615: A seven-year franchise upon the ECML via to a newly created subsidiary Great North Eastern Railway (GNER). During January 1997, Sherwood announced that GNER intended to procure a pair of two new-build tilting trains which were claimed to enable the London - Edinburgh journey to be reduced to only 3 hours and 30 minutes. While an order having been reportedly placed during October 1997, no such tilting trains were ever introduced. Despite this, GNER would successfully increase service speeds and run
990-434: A special pay-as-you-go fare. During late 2010, the company faced a barrage of criticism for its performance during extreme weather conditions in the south-east of England and there are also allegations from passenger advocacy groups and MPs of both parties that Southeastern deliberately runs reduced services to skew its official performance figures. In 2014, a survey of UK rail passenger satisfaction showed Southeastern to be
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#17327717423211080-593: A two-year option dependent on performance targets being met. During March 2011, having fulfilled these performance criteria, it was announced that the DfT had granted Govia a two-year franchise extension until March 2014. During March 2009, the bay platforms at London Blackfriars were temporarily closed for reconstruction as part of the Thameslink Programme ; accordingly, Southeastern services that previously terminated at Blackfriars, mostly from Sevenoaks via
1170-545: Is close to the Olympic Park . Eight trains per hour ran between St Pancras and Ebbsfleet, calling at Stratford, replacing the usual East Kent highspeed service. Two of these were extended to Ashford and one to Faversham. Between 11pm and 1am the service between St Pancras and Ebbsfleet was increased to twelve per hour. At St Pancras, there is an interchange with the London Underground and with trains to/from
1260-512: The 7 July 2005 London bombings , and incorrect assumptions in contract terms stipulated by the British government. On 6 November 2006, the Department for Work and Pensions informed Sea Containers that it must pay £143 million into its two UK pension schemes if it wanted to wind them up. On 11 February 2009, the remaining maritime container interests of Sea Containers were transferred to
1350-526: The Catford loop , were extended to Kentish Town, St Albans, Luton or Bedford. During 2016, Transport for London (TfL) proposed to take over several Southeastern-ran commuter services within the city. However, the planned redistribution was not approved by the British government. Despite this decision, in the late 2010s, several services formerly operated by Southeastern were reorganised as Thameslink routes, including services to Sevenoaks and Gillingham . It
1440-578: The Catford loop , were extended to Kentish Town, St Albans, Luton or Bedford. When the station fully reopened with new bay platforms in May 2012, these services continued to run, but in the evening and on weekends (when the station had been closed), instead of terminating at Victoria, services terminated at Blackfriars. Following the DfT review after the cancellation of the InterCity West Coast franchise process in 2012, extensions were granted to
1530-548: The Chatham Main Line between London Victoria and Dover/ Ramsgate via the Medway towns; and High Speed 1 from London St Pancras . On 14 December 2009, Southeastern launched full operations of its high-speed services using a purpose-built fleet of British Rail Class 395 high speed trains. Southeastern operated special high speed services using its Class 395s during the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics under
1620-624: The Department for Transport -owned operator Southeastern . Southeastern served the main London stations of Charing Cross , Victoria , Cannon Street , London Bridge , Waterloo East and St Pancras . The Southeastern network has a route mileage of 540, with 179 stations. About 70% of its services run to and from London. Southeastern trains operated on three main routes: the South Eastern Main Line from London Cannon Street and London Charing Cross to Dover via Sevenoaks ;
1710-824: The Greater Anglia franchise on 5 February 2012. In September 2012, FirstGroup was awarded the right to operate the West Coast franchise which provoked a backlash from incumbent Virgin Trains West Coast. As a result of the Department for Transport having provided incorrect information during the bid process, the offer was withdrawn in October 2012 and £40 million of bid costs refunded. In September 2014, Govia Thameslink Railway took over services formerly operated by First Capital Connect as part of
1800-476: The InterCity East Coast franchise. Sea Containers It was founded in 1965 by James Sherwood and was initially focused on the leasing of cargo containers . During 1974, Sea Containers was floated on the New York Stock Exchange . Over the next three decades, the company branched into various other markets, leading to the creation of the Orient-Express Hotels chain, hovercraft , and
1890-680: The Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive lets the Merseyrail franchise, while in London, Transport for London (TfL) oversees the new London Overground and Elizabeth line concessions. ( London Underground , a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London , operates trains nearly all on its own network serving mostly its own stations: It is not a Train Operating Company by the definition here.) The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) (formerly
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#17327717423211980-955: The Metro buses in Belfast and Ulsterbus coaches around the country. NIR is not a TOC under the terms of the Railways Act 1993 , which only applies to Great Britain. The cross-border service Enterprise (Belfast–Dublin) is jointly operated with Iarnród Éireann , the publicly owned national railway company of the Republic of Ireland. Upon privatisation in 1994, the three passenger-operating sectors of British Rail ( InterCity , Network SouthEast and Regional Railways ) were divided, and their existing operations were let as 25 franchises: The privatisation process began when BR's passenger sectors were divided into 25 train operating units which were gradually incorporated as publicly owned subsidiaries of
2070-736: The North East Regional franchise and the North West Regional franchise . In 2004, these were altered into the TransPennine franchise, for intercity services, and the Northern franchise, for local services that were awarded to First TransPennine Express and Northern Rail respectively. Some North West services were transferred to the Arriva Trains Wales franchise. In the same year, Thames Trains
2160-472: The Olympic Javelin brand. Southeastern operated numerous commuter services that served South-East and South London as well as Kent, many of which came under the Metro brand. Between March 2009 and May 2012, due to substantial reconstruction work at London Blackfriars as part of the Thameslink Programme , Southeastern services that previously terminated at Blackfriars, mostly from Sevenoaks via
2250-617: The Railways Act 1993 . There are two types of TOC: most hold franchises let by the Department for Transport (DfT) through a tendering system, to operate services on certain routes for a specified duration, while a small number of open-access operators hold licences to provide supplementary services on chosen routes. These operators can run services for the duration of the licence validity. The franchised operators have changed considerably since privatisation: previous franchises have been divided, merged, re-let to new operators, or renamed. Some privately-operated franchises have been taken over by
2340-584: The Strategic Rail Authority , which has since been abolished. For England, franchising is now the responsibility of the Department for Transport in the majority of cases. In Scotland, it is the responsibility of Transport Scotland . In Wales, since 2017, the responsibility for the specification and procurement of the Wales & Borders franchise belongs to Transport for Wales . In two parts of England, local government agencies are responsible: in Merseyside ,
2430-572: The Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern franchise and branded them as Thameslink and Great Northern. Services operated by Southern , another Govia subsidiary, were merged into the new franchise in the following year. Hull Trains became a 100% subsidiary of FirstGroup when the 80% shareholder bought out its partners. In March 2015, a Stagecoach and Virgin joint venture trading as Virgin Trains East Coast commenced operating
2520-545: The Venice-Simplon Orient Express train service. In May 1989, the British-based transport company Tiphook launched a $ 824 million bid to take over Sea Containers, which was successfully opposed by Sherwood. Sherwood maintained his leadership of the company into the twenty-first century, during which time he become fairly wealthy, something for which he was criticised following the collapse of
2610-791: The passenger transport executive or other civic body responsible for administering public transport. One of these bodies, the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (Merseytravel) is responsible for one of three National Rail franchises not awarded by central government, namely the Merseyrail franchise, while certain National Rail services in North London came under the control of TfL in November 2007 as London Overground. Two other franchises,
2700-474: The 2016 Transport Focus survey, which placed Southeastern joint bottom in satisfaction on service delivery. Satisfaction with the frequency of services declined year on year from 73% to 56%, and satisfaction with ticket value scored 30%, the lowest of any operator in the country. In the Autumn 2019 National Rail Passenger Survey, 81% of passengers using Southeastern services were satisfied with their journeys. This
2790-536: The 2016 survey by Which? magazine finding Southeastern to be the joint-worst performing train operating company in Britain, with a customer score of just 46%. The Spring 2016 National Rail Passenger Survey further underlined Southeastern's continuing poor performance and passenger satisfaction. The company issued a joint response with Network Rail on the day of publication, primarily blaming outside factors and survey methodology. The 2016 Which? figures were backed up by
Southeastern (train operating company, 2006–2021) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2880-630: The Association of Train Operating Companies) provides a commonality for the TOCs and provides some centralised co-ordination. Its activities include the provision of a national timetable and online journey planner facility, and the operation of the various Railcard discount schemes. Eurostar is also a member of the RDG, though it is not itself a TOC. For historical and geographical reasons
2970-565: The British Railways Board. They acted as shadow franchises prior to being put to tender: The opening of the Channel Tunnel saw operations by Eurostar begin from London Waterloo to Paris and Brussels . The franchising process was implemented, with various private companies taking over the shadow franchises. Three were awarded to management buyouts . The Great Western Holdings ' management also were awarded
3060-508: The British-based transport company Tiphook launched a $ 824 million bid to takeover Sea Containers, which was vigorously opposed by Sherwood. Amid this process, Tiphook's management alleged that Sherwood had an authoritarian management style, while Sherwood issued his own allegations of irregularities in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission . Shareholders ultimately backed Sherwood's position, who had proposed asset sales and
3150-557: The DfT Rail Group. Until 2005 this role was performed by the Strategic Rail Authority . The infrastructure of the railways in England, Scotland, and Wales – including tracks and signalling – is owned and operated not by the train companies but by Network Rail , which took over responsibility from Railtrack in 2002. Most passenger trains are owned by a small number of rolling stock companies (ROSCO) and are leased to
3240-500: The DfT instead took up a further extension and the operator was to run services until 31 March 2020. However, a new contract was then agreed on 30 March 2020, running up to 16 October 2021, with a possible extension to 31 March 2022. During September 2021, the DfT announced it would be terminating Govia's South Eastern franchise after revenue declaration discrepancies involving £25 million of public money were discovered. Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps stated that this
3330-608: The East Coast franchise. In April 2008, Wrexham & Shropshire began operating open access services between Wrexham and London Marylebone . In June 2008, the Gatwick Express franchise was integrated with the South Central franchise operated by Southern . The government announced that National Express East Coast would have its franchise to operate intercity services along the ECML terminated, and that
3420-588: The High Speed 1 section of line (between St Pancras International and Gravesend) generally included a surcharge. Southeastern operated special high speed services using the Class 395 during the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics , branded as the Olympic Javelin or Javelin. As a result, the class is still sometimes referred to as the Javelin . Announced as part of the successful London 2012 Olympic bid , it
3510-941: The Javelin service. Southeastern was the key operator for Kent , and also serves East Sussex . 'Mainline' services connect central London with Dover , Folkestone , Hastings , Royal Tunbridge Wells , Ramsgate , Chatham , Maidstone and Canterbury . The backbone fleet on these services is the Class 375 Electrostar, although Class 377 Electrostars and Class 465 /9 Networkers are also used on some routes. In December 2009, Southeastern saw 'Highspeed' trains stopping at 'Mainline' stations, and some longer timings on 'Mainline' services as trains called at more stations. Services to Tonbridge were maintained at six trains per hour off-peak, two per hour going forward to Ashford and beyond, two per hour to Hastings, and two per hour terminating at Tunbridge Wells. With high-speed services reaching Faversham,
3600-545: The London suburban parts of the franchise from 2018, integrating the routes into a proposed metro network. However, in December 2016, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling rejected this proposed reorganisation; the decision was quickly condemned by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan . In June 2017, the DfT announced that four parties, comprising an Abellio / East Japan Railway Company / Mitsui consortium, incumbent Govia , Stagecoach and Trenitalia , had been shortlisted to bid for
3690-516: The Midlands , Scotland, and the North of England . For track capacity reasons, Eurostar trains, which have never called at Stratford, did not do so during the games. It was expected that over 80% of Olympic spectators would travel to and from the venues by rail. Services to the Olympic Park were planned to offer a total capacity of 240,000 travellers per hour, some 25,000 of whom were expected to use
Southeastern (train operating company, 2006–2021) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3780-587: The North West Regional Railways franchise. The remainder were divided between a handful of major transport operators: In Northern Ireland, NIR stopped using its own branding on the Enterprise service between Belfast and Dublin when it purchased new rolling stock in conjunction with IÉ, instead launching Enterprise as a separate brand name. Great Western Holdings , which operated Great Western Trains and North West Trains, became
3870-730: The RMT, Southeastern and Wettons continued for some time. As part of the 2018 Thameslink Programme , several of the routes formerly operated by Southeastern changed into Thameslink routes, including services to Sevenoaks and Gillingham . These services using the Class 700 now run from Bedford through the London Core via London Bridge and on to the Kent Main Line or the North Kent Line . During January 2016, Transport for London (TfL) announced its intention to take over
3960-582: The Scottish national franchise, currently operated by ScotRail , and the Welsh domestic franchise, operated by Transport for Wales , are awarded by the devolved governments of the two constituent nations. The Rail Delivery Group is the coordinating body of the train operating companies in Great Britain and owns the National Rail brand, which uses the former British Rail double-arrow logo and organises
4050-489: The South Eastern franchise and include services on High Speed 1 operating from St Pancras . In November 2005, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced Govia had been awarded the franchise; the services operated by South Eastern Trains were transferred to Southeastern on 1 April 2006. During November 2007, the second phase of High Speed 1 was opened to traffic, resulting in the freeing up of train paths on
4140-519: The common ticketing structure. Many of the train operating companies are in fact parts of larger companies which operate multiple franchises. The railway network in Northern Ireland is managed differently from the rest of the UK. The sole company in Northern Ireland that operates trains is NI Railways , who are a subsidiary of Translink , the publicly owned transport corporation, which also runs
4230-428: The company's future financial hardship. During March 2006, amid several financial setbacks, Sherwood resigned from Sea Containers and many of his other companies. On 16 October, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. While the remainder of the group was being wound down and liquidated , the remaining maritime container interests were transferred to the newly created SeaCo Ltd in 2009. Sea Containers
4320-487: The company. During the 1990s, Sea Containers successfully bid for the InterCity East Coast franchise amid the privatisation of British Rail ; it was awarded a seven-year franchise which it operated via to a newly created subsidiary Great North Eastern Railway (GNER). In March 2005, the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the franchise to GNER for a further seven years; however, this newer arrangement lacked subsidies , instead requiring payments from GNER, contributing to
4410-405: The core enterprise; these efforts led to the rapid divestiture of 14,000 containers amongst other company assets. By July 2006, rumours were circulating that Sea Containers was preparing to sell GNER in an effort to avoid declaring bankruptcy . Despite these activities, in early October 2006, Sea Containers announced that it was unlikely to be able to pay a $ 115 million (£62 million) bond that
4500-422: The fastest scheduled service in Great Britain at that time. In March 2005, the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the franchise to GNER for a further seven years, starting on 1 May 2005. The new franchise's terms were quite different from that of the original period; instead of GNER receiving subsidies , it would be instead paying the British state for the privilege of operating; there was reportedly concerns over
4590-464: The financial viability of such an arrangement from the onset. In order to meet these payments, GNER assumed passenger numbers would increase by around 30 per cent across the life of the franchise, reaching around 20 million by 2015. During his leadership of Sea Containers, Sherwood accumulated substantial personal wealth; his net worth was estimated at £ 60million in the 2004 Sunday Times Rich List . In March 2006, Sea Containers announced that it
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#17327717423214680-457: The first year of this service's operation. The introduction of Southeastern's high-speed services was typically regarded as successful, achieving good reliability and passenger satisfaction figures, as well as being credited for an increase in passenger numbers above that already being experienced on the Kent network. The initial terms of the franchise had included a period of eight years, along with
4770-401: The following locations; [REDACTED] Media related to Southeastern (train operating company) at Wikimedia Commons Train operating company In the railway system of Great Britain , a train operating company ( TOC ) is a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under
4860-514: The franchise would pass into the hands of public-sector company, Directly Operated Railways , which acted as the parent for East Coast . Grand Central open-access services from London to Bradford began on 23 May 2010. DB Regio's operations in the UK were integrated into those of Arriva following the acquisition of the latter by Deutsche Bahn in the previous year. Owing to continuing losses, Wrexham & Shropshire ceased operating on 28 January 2011. Abellio Greater Anglia began operating
4950-402: The franchise, Southeastern made a point of advertising part-owner SNCF 's experience operating integrated high-speed train services on the French TGV network. A fleet of 29 six-coach Shinkansen -derived high-speed ' A-trains ' were built in Japan by Hitachi for this route. Known as Class 395 , this was Hitachi's first train sale in Britain. The colour scheme for the high-speed trains' livery
5040-429: The franchises due for renewal in the near future. In 2013, the coalition government opted to extend Southeastern's franchise without competitive tender from March 2014 to June 2018, and in 2016 further extended it until December 2018. The Invitation to Tender was to be released in September 2017 for contract award in August 2018. Amidst the 2016–18 United Kingdom rail strikes that impacted numerous train operators across
5130-401: The franchising system, beginning its services from London Paddington to Heathrow with operating rights until 2023. The shareholdings of M40 Trains were restructured with John Laing owning 84% of the company with the remaining 16% held by former BR managers. MTL which operated Merseyrail Electrics and Northern Spirit and Prism Rail that operated c2c (renamed from LTS Rail earlier in
5220-493: The future of Sea Containers, which reportedly had accumulated debts adding up to $ 1.3 billion by May of that year. In response to these negative events, Sherwood promptly resigned from many of his companies, including Sea Containers. He was replaced by turnaround specialist Bob Mackenzie , while Ian Durant became senior vice-president of finance. MacKenzie sought to reduce the business' high debt burden via further sales, which he viewed as critical to any prospective rebuilding of
5310-464: The half-hourly Victoria to Faversham stopping service was replaced with an hourly service to Gillingham and additional stops on the "fast" services to London Victoria . On the Maidstone East Line , services from London Cannon Street to Ashford International via Maidstone East and from London Victoria to Maidstone East and to Canterbury West via Ashford were replaced by a half-hourly Victoria to Ashford service. The Strood to Paddock Wood service
5400-567: The individual TOCs. However, a handful of TOCs own and maintain some of their own rolling stock. Train operating companies also operate most of the network's stations , in their role as station facility owners (SFO), in which they lease the buildings and associated land from Network Rail. Network Rail manages some major railway stations and several stations are operated by London Underground or other companies. Most passenger TOCs in Great Britain are privately owned. The majority of these hold franchises to operate rail services on specific parts of
5490-525: The lowest-rated train operating company, with just forty per cent of passengers believing that good service is provided and a rating of only one out of five for value for money. Southeastern claimed that the reason for this is that people dislike going to work and that if the survey were to be retaken on a "sunny summer's day" the outcome would be better for the company. In a survey ( Best and worst UK train companies ) carried out in February 2015 by Which? magazine, Southeastern continued to rank poorly, rated as
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#17327717423215580-431: The name Wales & Borders . The remainder of Wales & West's services in the west of England were renamed Wessex Trains . John Laing bought out its partners in M40 Trains. Connex , having already lost the South Central franchise in 2001, was removed as franchisee of the South Eastern franchise in 2003 on the grounds of poor financial management. It was replaced as the franchise holder by South Eastern Trains ,
5670-439: The nation, Southeastern cleaning staff, outsourced to employment agency Wettons, voted to stage industrial action in a dispute over pay and working conditions in September 2017. A strike, which involved Wettons cleaning staff affiliated with the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), took place on 19 October 2017 and lasted for 24 hours. There was no further industrial action, although negotiations between
5760-506: The new Integrated Kent franchise (IKF), replacing the publicly owned South Eastern Trains on the former South Eastern franchise . Initially set to operate the franchise for a period of eight years, the company received numerous extensions and was at one point contracted to operate through to 2022. However, the franchise was terminated early after it was discovered that the company had held onto £25 million of unaccounted-for taxpayer money. On 16 October 2021, operations were transferred to
5850-429: The next South Eastern franchise. On 10 August 2017, Trenitalia withdrew its interest in the franchise. During November 2017, the Invitation to Tender for the next franchise was issued. During February 2018, Alstom joined Stagecoach's bid. The bid evaluation process was protracted, contributing to short term extensions of the franchise to the incumbent operator. The franchise competition was cancelled on 7 August 2019 and
5940-539: The outcome of investigations into the termination of the franchise; it found that "serious errors had been made” since 2006, with the expected cost to the company to be over £80 million. The amount owed to the DfT was increased to £51.3 million, with errors dating back to the start of the franchise in 2006. Go-Ahead also stated that they expect to have to pay a fine to the DfT, setting aside up to £30 million for this. Go-Ahead also stated that they may also owe DfT an additional £21.3 million, related to
6030-404: The purview of National Rail, which operate specific services which are recent additions to Britain's railways. The main examples are Eurostar, which operates to continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel , and Heathrow Express , which runs fast services from London to Heathrow Airport . A number of metropolitan railways on the network are operated by the local franchise holder in conjunction with
6120-716: The railway and come under the auspices of the National Rail brand. In addition, companies are able to bid for "paths" (specific parts of the overall National Rail timetable) to operate their own services, which the franchises do not operate – these operators are classed as open-access operators and are not franchise holders. Currently in Great Britain, there are three open-access operators: Hull Trains , which runs services between London King's Cross and Hull , Grand Central , which operates between King's Cross and Sunderland and between King's Cross and Bradford , and Lumo , which operates between King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley . In addition, there are operators that fall outside
6210-431: The railway network of the United Kingdom is split into two independent systems: one in Great Britain (including the Isle of Wight ), and one in Northern Ireland, which is closely linked to the railway system of the Republic of Ireland. In Great Britain, passenger train services are operated by a number of companies, referred to as Train Operating Companies or TOCs, normally on the basis of regional franchises awarded by
6300-501: The routes operated by Silverlink in London, which were combined with the extended East London line in 2011. Services are controlled directly by TfL, with running of the trains themselves contracted to a private company as an operating concession. This is different from an ordinary franchise, as the train operator is not given control of the strategic aspects of the operation, such as pricing, timetabling and rolling stock procurement. In December 2007, National Express East Coast took over
6390-476: The running of the InterCity East Coast franchise from GNER . Grand Central also began operating its services between London and Sunderland as an open access operator. In January 2008, Laing Rail which owned M40 Trains and a 50% shareholding in London Overground Rail Operations was sold to Deutsche Bahn , becoming part of the DB Regio Group. In February 2008, One was re-branded by National Express as National Express East Anglia to bring it into line with
6480-532: The same franchise was partially enacted. In April 2004, One commenced operating the Greater Anglia franchise that combined the Anglia Railways and First Great Eastern franchises with the West Anglia Great Northern services radiating out from Liverpool Street . The remainder continuing to be operated as WAGN . In the North of England, prior to 2004 there were two regional franchises,
6570-426: The second-worst UK train operating train companies customer score of just 44%. This was narrowly ahead of Govia Thameslink Railway , with 43%. Southeastern also achieved only 2/5 or 3/5 star ratings across the six specific categories assessed in the survey (such categories included Punctuality, Reliability and Cleanliness of toilets). Southeastern performed poorly in performance and passenger satisfaction in 2016, with
6660-588: The south-east of England, were replaced as the operator of the Network SouthCentral franchise by Govia , who began operating it under the name South Central . Also in 2001, a new franchise, the Wales & Borders franchise was created by the amalgamation of Valley Lines and the majority of services in Wales and the Borders held by Wales & West . The new franchise was initially operated under
6750-624: The station Services continue to/from London Cannon Street via Sidcup (see below). At the time of its franchise ending in 2021, Oyster cards were valid from all Zone 1–9 stations served by the company, the travelcard zones having been extended to include stations such as Dartford after an initial outcry by passengers being required to travel to Zone 6 stations such as Slade Green , Barnehurst or Crayford to "tap in" before continuing on their journey. Travelcards (including on Oyster) are however were not valid on High-Speed services, except between St Pancras International and Stratford International at
6840-533: The traditional network previously used by Eurostar , which permitted Southeastern to increase certain services two months later. During December 2008, as part of the franchise agreement, responsibility for the Redhill to Tonbridge Line was transferred to Southern . On 14 December 2009, Southeastern launched full operations of its high-speed services using its newly procured fleet of British Rail Class 395 high speed trains. Seven million journeys were recorded on in
6930-505: The year), Valley Lines Trains , Wales & West , and West Anglia Great Northern were purchased by Arriva and National Express respectively, resulting in the latter owning nine franchises. The two companies transferred to Arriva were renamed Arriva Trains Merseyside and Arriva Trains Northern. The first open access operator using the National Rail brand, Hull Trains , commenced running its services between King's Cross and Hull . In 2001, Connex , which had operated two franchises in
7020-602: Was a serious breach of the "good faith" obligation in the franchise agreement. Following the announcement, shares in Go-Ahead Group (joint owner of Govia) fell 22% and their Chief Financial Officer resigned. During December 2021, Go-Ahead issued an admission of "serious errors and failures", while the trading of its shares on the London Stock Exchange was suspended as the company was unable to publish financial results. In February 2022, Go-Ahead announced
7110-662: Was an integral part of a plan to improve public transport in London in readiness for the Olympics, an area of the bid that was initially regarded as being poor by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The British Olympic Association applied to register Javelin as a UK trademark on 19 July 2005 and this was granted on 2 June 2006. The service ran for the duration of both games, between St Pancras International station and Ebbsfleet International station , via Stratford International station , which
7200-506: Was dark blue. The services were marketed as Southeastern Highspeed, and some of the trains were named after British Olympians such as Steve Redgrave and Ben Ainslie . At the same time, there was the largest change to the timetable in the area in 40 years. With the fast trains now travelling over High Speed 1, the Charing Cross to Ashford stopping service was extended to Dover, Canterbury and Ramsgate. Fares for journeys that included
7290-538: Was due on 15 October. On 16 October, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, at which point it reportedly had outstanding debts of $ 650 million with only $ 67 million of free cash remaining. Following this filing, Sherwood's role in the collapse, particularly his $ 2 million (£1 million) severance payment and $ 250,000 annual payout from his Sea Containers pension, was criticised; in response, he denied personal responsibility and attributed Sea Containers' fate to several factors, including elevated fuel prices,
7380-486: Was established in 1965 by Yale University graduate and retired United States Navy officer James Sherwood ; it had an initial capital of $ 100,000. The company's initial activities were centered upon the leasing of cargo containers to various shipping companies. However, under Sherwood's leadership, Sea Containers expanded over a 40-year period into numerous other markets, including luxury hotels and railways , many of these sectors being those that Sherwood had taken
7470-822: Was extended to Tonbridge . The Sittingbourne to Sheerness on Sea branch line also comes under 'Mainline' services, using Class 375 Electrostars which replaced Class 466 Networkers. Mainline services use a dark blue livery, similar to that of the "Javelin" high-speed trains. Southeastern served South-East London, South London and on into Kent, its central stations being London Blackfriars , London Bridge , Charing Cross , Cannon Street , London Victoria and Waterloo East . 'Metro' trains served Greenwich , New Cross , Lewisham , Dartford , Gravesend , Woolwich Arsenal , Hayes , Peckham Rye , Bromley South , Bickley , Bexleyheath , Petts Wood , Orpington and Sevenoaks . Southeastern ran Class 376 Electrostar, and Class 466 and Class 465 Networkers for 'Metro' services, although
7560-610: Was for the InterCity East Coast franchise, which was viewed as a particularly desirable one to obtain, the East Coast Main Line (ECML) having been recently electrified while also being worked by the newest intercity stock in British Rail's inventory, the InterCity 225 , and thus had a well-established reputation for its high-speed services. In March 1996, Sea Containers was announced as the winner, being awarded
7650-469: Was in the process of exiting from ferry operations, which had been one of the company's primary area of business; efforts were promptly launched to sell these operations onto third parties. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that the company lost a lucrative contract to provide back-up services to its container leasing operations, which by then it had been running as a joint venture with GE Capital . These two negative headlines were seen as serious blows to
7740-435: Was owned by Govia , a joint venture between Go-Ahead Group and Keolis , which also operates the neighbouring Southern franchise that overlapped with Southeastern in some western areas. During December 2003, the Strategic Rail Authority announced that Danish State Railways / Stagecoach , FirstGroup , Govia and MTR / Sea Containers had been shortlisted to bid for the new Integrated Kent franchise, which would replace
7830-548: Was superseded by First Great Western Link and ScotRail (National Express) by First ScotRail . A new operator, Heathrow Connect , jointly run by BAA and First Great Western , began operating stopping services between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport complementing the Heathrow Express. Three new integrated franchises began operating in April 2006: Further integrations occurred in 2007. The first of these
7920-620: Was the South Western franchise ; this merged the original South West Trains franchise with the Island Line Trains franchise on the Isle of Wight and began operating in February 2007 under the name South West Trains, with Island Line retained as a separate brand. In November 2007, three new integrated franchises began operating: In addition to these three, a further new operator, London Overground Rail Operations , took control of
8010-486: Was the company's highest score for six years and an increase of 3% on the previous year. Southeastern operated a fleet of approximately 400 trains, all of which are electric multiple units and have been taken over by its successor Southeastern . The transfer of some routes to Southern and Thameslink allowed Southeastern to withdraw its small fleet of Class 508 EMUs and replace them with Networker stock cascaded from other services. Southeastern's drivers were based at
8100-452: Was the prestigious Venice-Simplon Orient Express train service. Sherwood acquired thirty old 1920s carriages from across Europe and had them restored from often dilapidated conditions to facilitate the service's relaunch during 1982. During February 1986, the British ferry company Hoverspeed was purchased for £5 million by British Ferries , a holding company for Sealink UK , which was in turn owned by Sea Containers. In May 1989,
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